


Stay - a Catradora Highschool AU

by cashradora



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Shera - Freeform, adora - Freeform, catra - Freeform, catradora, sheraandtheprincessesofpower, spop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cashradora/pseuds/cashradora
Summary: Loosely based on Catradora's storyline in the show, mainly s5."Catra!" She yelled. The bus doors closed as the hooded girl inside turned around.Her messy hair came out of the sides of her hoodie, and the cocoa in her hand spilled onto her fingers from the turn.Adora found her, alive, and okay, and still leaving. She dropped to her knees, sitting on the cold concrete as she caught her breath.She looked down at her phone to check where the bus would go next.Maybe I can still stop her somehow. Behind her phone, she could see the bus come to a full stop down the street.One passenger got off and stepped onto the sidewalk. Adora turned her phone off and dropped it onto her lap."Adora?" Catra yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 163





	1. She Goes Here?

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on wattpad! Please support it there if you can! Link: https://my.w.tt/D3yxrefPA7
> 
> And I have an instagram editing account where I edit she ra and catradora quite often. Find me @euphorics.aep

The room was completely silent. No shifting in the sheets, no snoring, only a calm breath every few seconds from both Lonnie and Catra. Suddenly, all of it was broken by a loud beeping noise. 

_beep beep beep_

Catra, on the bottom bunk, reluctantly rolled over towards the sound, opening one eye to take a look at the clock.

 _7:00 A.M._ she read.

Her arm flung towards the clock, slamming the button on top to stop the beeping. She rolled back over, but to no surprise, was quickly greeted by Lonnie. 

"Catra come on. Aren't you excited?" Lonnie, after climbing down from the top bunk, reached over to grab Catra's shoulder and shake her a bit. She was always the type to enjoy school, she aced all her classes and had dreams of being valedictorian.

"No, I'm not. Just like every other year, it's the same thing, with a new fancy title."

Catra and Lonnie were sophomores this year, both having transferred from their last school, which taught middle and high school, to Brightmoon High. It was the biggest high school in town.

Lonnie rummaged through the closet before she stopped to see Catra still in bed.

"Hey, I'm gonna go change. Please start getting ready while I'm gone so you don't get the both of us in trouble." She turned the door handle, and the next thing Catra heard was the sound of the door gently closing.

She turned around and sat up in bed, looking out over the room. It was clean, the light of a small square window next to the bed filled the room with a warm yellow color.

Through the walls Catra could hear others rummaging through their belongings, talking, getting ready. Her and Lonnie lived in a group home for foster kids. More specifically: the foster kids that couldn't find a foster home. The kids with "behavioral issues." She didn't mind though, as long as Ms. Weaver wasn't working, everyday there was normal for her.

Catra stood up and walked to her closet, tracing her fingers over a carving in the door frame. She knew where it was without looking, and would often find herself tracing it without thinking. The carving consisted of two girls, one was Catra, but the other was most definitely not Lonnie.

After grabbing a hoodie and a pair of jeans, Catra walked over to the bed and began changing. 

The only thing on her mind was the new school. She didn't care about switching, the only thing she actually cared about was switching to a school with new people, or, more than that, people she already knew. She hadn't kept in touch with Adora after she left the home, for clear reasons. If she went to Brightmoon High and saw her there, she'd be fucked.

Catra zipped up her maroon hoodie, paired with a pair of black jeans, and walked towards the front of the room. On a dresser were a couple hair ties, one of which she grabbed before tossing her hair up into a messy pony tail. 

"Where is she?" She heard from the hallway, followed by steps that grew louder and louder, coming Catra's way.

Ms. Weaver. She's working today.

Catra ran over to the bed to grab her backpack, tossing it over her shoulders, before quickly running back to the front of the room to put her shoes on.

The door swung open as she finished pulling on her second shoe, a pair of black slip-ons. Catra looked over at the door, not even making eye contact with Ms. Weaver.

"Are you ready Catra? If not you're gonna be late." Ms. Weaver spoke in a condescending tone.

Catra hadn't eaten or brushed her teeth, and if it were anyone else, she would've stopped to do so. But Ms. Weaver was different, and Catra knew that.

"Yes Ms. Weaver, I'm ready." She stood up, "Let me just grab one thing and I'll be on my way." She turned around, walking towards the bed and taking off her backpack. Underneath her pillow she had stored her own belongings, things she didn't want to share with anyone else, or things she had just in case she decided to run away one day. One of these things was a tiny tube of toothpaste, and she kept her toothbrush on the nightstand.

Turning towards the nightstand she saw that it was 7:15 already, so she grabbed the two objects, tossed them in her bag, zipped up, and hurried off. She took the bus to school, and had to be at the stop within five mintes to get to school. It was just around the block, so waiting was more of an issue.

"Did you brush your teeth this morning? Or even eat?" Lonnie started.

"No, neither actually."

"Well what took so long?"

"I just have a lot on my mind, okay?" Catra's tone changed from calm to annoyed, so Lonnie stopped responding.

The next couple minutes were silent, other than the few cars passing by. The bus pulled up just on time and the pair boarded.

"Just so you guys know, after you get your ID's tomorrow, you're gonna have to show them to me or I won't be able to pick you up. Just for a couple days until I can recognize everyone, got it?" Said the bus driver, a mean looking woman with a pair of circle glasses. She didn't sound as mean as she looked.

"Got it" Lonnie responded, while Catra simply nodded her head. The two of them made their way to the furthest seat from the front without question. Catra took the window seat and watched their way there. The ride was about 15 minutes, and school started at 7:40. They had about 5 minutes to wander.

Catra stayed outside the school, walking around the perimeter a bit before getting nervous and settling at the steps towards the front. Lonnie had already ran into the school head on, probably finiding her classes and meeting friends. Catra was in no such rush. 

Even when the bell finally rang and the last few stragglers made their way in, she was reluctant to do the same. Slowly, she picked up her bag from her side, tossing it over her right shoulder, and turned towards the school, before walking in.

"Hi! Do you have your schedule yet?" The front desk worker greeted her.

"No, the name's Catra."

He quickly started typing away before he found it. Her schedule and her student ID number showed up on his computer screen before he waved for Catra to come around the desk. She took her phone from the pocket of her hoodie to get a picture.

"Thanks" she started walking away.

"Do you know where your classes are?" 

She turned to look at him but continued walking away, "I'll find them." She said with a smile before she waved and walked off.

The school was shaped different from any school she had been to. There were three buildings, the one she was in being the main one, the only one with two floors. She hoped that her class was in this one.

As she walked, she noticed the numbers on the doors she passed. She now knew that the first floor ranged from room 1-100, so that's a start. Looking down at her phone, her first class was in rm. 54: math with Mr. Williams. 

She toured the bottom floor to find her class, once passing by a security guard, but mostly passing other lost students. She found her class right next to the library, stopping in front of the door before walking in. 

"Hi! Who are you?"

She was greeted by a room half filled with students and a teacher, barely taller than her, at the front of the room. His hair was about as long as hers.

"I'm Catra."

"Well, hi Catra. I'm Mr. Williams but most of my students just call me Micah. Find a seat." He smiled a genuine, welcoming smile. At least someone was excited about this school.

She walked towards the back, passing a bunch of kids she didn't recognize. She sat in the 4th row of 5, just to where she could at least hear the teacher and get a good view of the class.

Next to her sat a girl that caught her eye, she had a pixie cut, most of her hair pushed to one side. It was all dyed a pastel pink, fading into purple towards the ends. Her t-shirt matched the purple in her hair and she paired it with some blue shorts.

As the girl flipped through the pages in her notebook, she turned her head more towards Catra, causing her to look away.

"Okay, so usually on the first day the class is a bit empty, but I'm sure as time goes on we'll get more students and more showing up to class. So today we're focusing a bit on introducing you to the math you're learning this year, kind of just going over basic ideas you should already know."

The class was slow, no kids entering in the conversation, no chatting between friends, everyone there either did nothing or took notes. When the bell rang, Catra got up and pulled out her phone.

"Mr.- uh, Micah, I guess."

He turned around to give her his full attention, having wiped down the whiteboard at the front.

"Do you know where room 307 is?"

"Ah yes, you must have some sort of gym class for 2nd period?"

She checked her schedule, next to the room number it read "team sports."

"Yes, team sports."

"Okay so there are about 5 exits on the lower floor, but if you just walk back to the front of the school, the building across from the front entrance is the gym building. You'll have to press a button to get buzzed in."

"Thank you." Catra said before taking off. As she exited she noticed the pink-haired girl was still in the room, starting to talk with the teacher. 

Walking the halls during passing period was almost unbearable. Kids bumping into one another, yelling across the halls, standing in the middle of the hallway for no reason. Most didn't even notice her presence, but if anyone did, all they'd notice were her eyes. One being a bright blue and the other, a honey brown- some could swear was almost yellow- was too hard not to notice.

When Catra finally got to the other building, the only thing she could think about was to bring headphones next time. Maybe music could make the trip bearable.

As she walked up to the door, she covered her thumb with her sleeve before pressing the button next to the door. 

_**click!** _

A red light turned green and the sound of the door unlocking let her know she could go in. Inside the building were two big gyms, rm. 307 and 308. She made her way to 307 on the left.

Upon entering the gym, Catra saw a few kids throwing a football around and playing basketball, while most just sat on the bleachers. She did the same. 

The class went by quickly, as did her next two, history and English. All the same, stupid introductory type shit. In team sports she learned about the expectations, what clothes to bring, and got her locker room locker. #117. In English she even had to stand up and introduce herself to the class, thank god that everyone in that class, just like her, didn't seem to care one bit.

Finally, second lunch came. Catra had second, which she despised. Especially today, having barely gotten ready in the morning, she hadn't eaten anything. The cafeteria was at the center of the main building, a giant room with several stalls all serving different selections. Had she not been hungry enough, she probably wouldn't have gone in. Too many people, too many options.

She stopped at one of the booths, just hoping it would be edible. They served rice, noodles, and chicken to pair it with. 

Catra, now with a box containing the "spicy" chicken option and noodles, had nowhere to sit. No friend group to run to and chat with. She pictured doing so: hey did you guys also have to go through the same basic introductory shit in every class today? Wow. That's crazy. 

So she continued on by wandering through the halls which set up a perfect square around the cafeteria. So far there were no signs of Adora at this school. Somehow Catra didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. Ever since she moved she'd find herself worrying about her. 

_If she doesn't go here, where does she g-_

"Hey! Catra!" Her thoughts were interrupted. She turned to her right, finding the voice. Scorpia.

She was sitting down in one of the hallways, leaning against the door to the auditorium.

"Hey, Scorpia." She replied as she plopped down beside her friend. The difference in size became very clear when they were next to each other. Catra was small compared to most of the company she kept, but Scorpia was all muscle. She was tall and sported a boy short haircut, bleached to be as white as snow.

Scorpia lived in the same group home as her, sometimes sharing a simple conversation in the kitchen or around the house, but they never grew too close. Scorpia was one of the most enthusiastic people you'd ever met, and Catra, on the other hand, could sometimes be one of the least.

"How's your first day going?" Scorpia asked with delight before shoving another bite of a sub sandwich into her mouth.

"It's okay I guess. All this introductory shit is so boring. I'd literally rather just be doing schoolwork than introducing myself or learning about class expectations."

Catra finished, but was met with no response. She looked up to see Scorpia staring at her with a mouthful of food, so she looked away, starting at her noodles.

"You know Adora goes here, right? That girl you used to bunk with?" 

Catra's face dropped to be expressionless. "We're not friends anymore." She heard herself say. 

Scorpia hadn't heard anything, and Catra hadn't said anything, not out loud anyways.

She calmly set down her food and tossed her backpack over her shoulder before fleeing to the bathroom. Other girls came in and out, so she stayed in one stall until the bell rang. 

Slowly, she opened her stall door, stepping out into the empty bathroom. She checked every stall, pushing open every door, before walking to one of the sinks and carefully placing her hands on the sides. 

_What am I gonna do?_


	2. Face to Face

Looking down at her watch, she noticed there was only a minute left for passing period. 

_Oh shit. I'm gonna be late_ Adora thought. Her first day and she was gonna be late to English, one of her only two classes with a teacher she knew.

She walked into class, hastily trying to make her way to a seat.

"Adora," she was stopped. "you're late."

"Lance!" she turned around to greet her teacher, who also happened to be her best friend's dad. "How's the family? Bow, George, the whole thing.." her words trailed off as she made eye contact with him. He stared down at her with a look that spoke "are you kidding me?"

"Come earlier next time, maybe you'll know what we're talking about!"

Adora sat down next to a couple familiar faces towards the back of the giant class. Obviously english, reading, writing, whatever you called it, it was required every year. So the classes were large and full of students; the easiest class to get away with anything. 

"Adora" a whisper came from her side. "Can I copy your notes?" It was Mermista. She was accompanied by Seahawk, who popped out from behind Mermista in Adora's field of vision, nodding his head as if to ask the same.

"I literally just got here, I dont have notes."

"I'm clearly asking for future reference." 

Mermista was smart. She could do her own work, but often she didn't care enough to do so. When it came to big assignments where she clearly couldn't copy others, if she felt like doing the work she'd ace it. 

Her secret love was writing, and if she had the chance to write an essay about something she liked or an issue she cared about, her essay would easily be a college level piece of writing.

Seahawk didn't care much about school, and the only reason he passed was because of extra curricular activities. More specifically: 

cheerleading.

While he had the body to be a football player, he chose cheerleading. Putting on a show, being part of a team, going to the games and having the crowd cheer along. He loved everything about it.

The trio spent the entire class doing nothing but chatting. Lance- Mr. Roberts, was too preoccupied with introducing the class to the curriculum. Every time he'd answer a question from a new student, you'd hear a "welcome to language arts! I'm Mr. Roberts, you'll hear some students calling me Lance, you can call me that too." 

He loved new students. He loved teaching. As a historian and an ex history teacher, he'd have writing units all about the meaning of war, why we are taught history. For this, some of his students loved his class, an easy A as they were already learning history in a different period.

As the bell rang, Seahawk and Mermista fled from the classroom with their bags packed. Adora was left behind, managing all of the things she hadn't put away yet. 

After everything was tossed randomly into her backpack, she zipped up and left. Walking in the halls, she threw her bag around her to make sure she zipped her backpack and all her belongings werent leaving a trail behind her. She was a mess.

She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her bright red and white bomber jacket, making sure she was headed to the right class.

Room 307. Team sports with Mrs. Miller.

Mrs. Miller was the gym teacher everyone liked best. Her policy was "as long as you're doing something active, you get a good grade." You didn't have to participate in whatever sport was being played, as long as you were still doing something. 

Adora had heard all about her, but the previous year she managed to get weight training as her gym class, meaning she didn't have Mrs. Miller. Now she finally did and Bow and Glimmer had already taken her class.

Great, she thought, I'll have to participate in the sports because I have no group to run off with.

As she got to the building, she was welcomed in by another student holding the door. Room 307 was on the left, which she knew to be he smaller of the two gyms. Both were still big though, and if you didn't know the school you probably wouldn't take the time to even notice the difference.

"Mrs. Miller?" Adora questioned as she made her way to the teacher. "Yes?" She turned. "Ah, you must be Adora." 

Adora responded by nodding her head. Many people knew who she was. Students, teachers, faculty. She was liked by everyone she met.

"Yes Mr. Browning told me about you, said you were pretty good in weights."

"It was a fun class."

"Well I hope this ones just as fun for you. Today we're just running over expectations and getting lockers though, so hopefully tomorrow we can have some of that fun." She walked to a bucket, taking out a lock before reading her clipboard. 

"Okay this is the combo right here." She said as she scribbled the numbers 17-07-01 on a corner of paper, ripping it off, and handing it and the lock to Adora.

"Thank you." Adora said as she walked towards the bleachers and sat down. She wasn't used to going back to school yet. Usually she'd be full of energy right now, running across the halls to the locker room, finding the perfect spot to put her belongings. 

Today felt so much longer than usual. She didn't have as many classes with her friends as she had hoped. 

Sitting down, she pulled out her phone to scroll through instagram for the next hour. Time passed slowly, but eventually the clock hit 2:50, meaning it would be time to change out of your gym clothes. 

The teacher gave this time to the students who didn't already find their lockers. Adora got ready to go as she heard the door to the gym open and click close. Zipping up her bag and tossing it over her shoulder, she stood up to leave the class.

As she looked up towards the teacher, she saw a student talking to her. Her heart began to race. She knew that student. She knew her without even seeing her face.

"I got this pass to come here, I just left the wrong pair of pants in my locker." The girl said. Adora watched this exchange from the bleachers, waiting for the girl to start walking before she did. 

She followed her out the door, waiting a couple seconds after it clicked close to open it. She did the same, waiting even longer before entering the locker room. 

As she got closer, her heart beat faster. She checked every section in the locker room before arriving at the last. There was nothing but a few feet between them.

"Catra?" Adora asked. 

The girl's locker was slowly pushed closed before she turned around, revealing herself.

"Hey, Adora."


	3. It’s Different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I didn’t expect so many people to like this but I’ve only gotten positive feedback. Sorry for such a long wait between chapters :(  
> Also next chapter is gonna be another one from Catra’s side of the story, so after we’ll get two from Adora’s to keep them even. Thanks!

_tick. tick. tick. tick._

Catra sat in the emptiest part of the cafeteria, bouncing her leg, trying as hard as possible to focus on something other than her thoughts. 

The sound of the clock ticking every passing second didnt help. She looked up at the clock, seeing she had only three minutes till first period.

_Why do I have to be here. At this school. In this town. On this planet. Please let me go anywhere else._

A girl in the hallway passed by, catching Catra's eye. Her bright red shirt made her stop fidgeting for just a second, thinking Adora came. She hadn't. Some part of Catra knew she wouldn't, but she still waited for the next two minutes to pass to leave for class.

_Stupid. I'm so stupid._

Walking into math class, the same seat she sat in yesterday was open. She flopped down, looking around the class and noticing double the students. The pink haired girl still sat beside her, this time looking over and noticing Catra. They still hadn't said anything to one another.

"Okay! Now that class has officially started," Micah kicked out the doorstopper and watched the door click closed. "We are gonna be doing partners today.” Catra watched as students around the room sighed in unison.

“I know, you're all teenagers and, well, ewwww math! I know you guys will survive." 

He finished his sentence with a smile on his face. He started walking around the class, picking out students sat next to each other and pushing their desks together.

"Glimmer, you will work with Catra." Micah motioned between their desks, asking for them to be pushed together. Catra didn't move, so Glimmer took on the responsibility.

Catra noticed a lingering silence, and decided to break it.

"So... Glimmer?" She had a sarcastic tone.

Glimmer turned to Catra with an annoyed look on her face. 

"Well you sure have room to talk, Catra."

"I didn't ask for my name. Is your name even your real name?"

"No, but I happen to like it a lot better."

Catra stopped egging it on. A small whiteboard, blue marker, and a paper towel was passed on their new double-desk. 

"So to practice what we went over yesterday and get back in the groove of doing math every day, I'm going to be giving you a problem on the board, you have a minute to complete each problem, they'll be getting harder as time goes on, and we have a point system. First place gets a snack, don't get me in trouble by eating it in the wrong class."

Glimmer took the whiteboard and uncapped the marker, ready to start writing. Catra noticed that Glimmer was left handed. 

The first problem was written on the board in purple marker. 

3x - 7 = 29

Micah moved off to the side, starting a timer on his computer before writing down team members names to keep points.

Glimmer stared at the board, not having written anything on her own. She couldn't solve it.

"x is 12."

"What?"

"x is 12. I solved it." Catra repeated.

"Are you sure?"

"It's easy, 29 plus 7 makes 36, and 36 divided by 3 makes 12."

Glimmer looked back at the board, repeating the process in her head. "Makes sense to me!" She wrote down the answer, leaving them to wait for the next half-minute to pass.

_beep beep beep_

Micah turned off the timer. "Okay! Show your boards this way!" He walked over to the whiteboard, giving a point to every pair that got it right.

Over the next 45 minutes, the class did 20 more problems. Glimmer and Catra managed to tie another team for the win, both with 18 points. 

Glimmer was starting to get better at the problems they were facing, and the two girls would compete to finish the problem faster.

"Okay! We're on our last problem, hopefully a tie breaker for our top two teams." He walked towards the board. "Ah I have an idea. How about this one is based on speed? Whichever top team gets it fastest wins.

He wrote on the board quickly before running to the computer to start the clock.

6x^2y^5 • 5xy^0

Catra read the board and immediately started the math in her head while Glimmer struggled to write anything down. She looked at her teammate, who was failing to figure it out without writing it down.

Catra grabbed the board off of Glimmer's desk just before Glimmer sighed and handed her the marker. She used the marker to point at the numbers that multiplied with each other before writing her answers down. 

Before anyone else was finished, Catra capped the marker and Glimmer yelled "DONE!"

Micah encouraged everyone to continue, in case they had gotten in wrong. They hadn't.

"Our winners! Glimmer and Catra!" Micah walked over to the board to write down the final answer.

30x^3y^5

The team made their way to Micah's desk, Catra grabbing a bag of ruffle chips and Glimmer grabbing a lollipop.

"Hey, I think we made a pretty good team." Glimmer said with a smile.

"Yeah sure" Catra laughed, "I did all the hard work."

"Did not! You're just better at math."

The pair separated their desks and sat in silence for the rest of class. Catra's mood was a bit better now than it had been this morning.

As the bell rang, Catra picked up her bag to leave. 

"See ya Sparkles, Micah" she waved as she exited the classroom. 

_Just another day_ she thought. No Adora, just like the last few years. She could live with that. 

Classes went by a bit faster today, or at least it felt like it. Before she knew it it was time for lunch, but today she wasn't starving. She found Scorpia in the hallway and sat next to her.

"Hey."

"Hey Catra! How's your day going?" 

"Better than yesterday I guess. How about you?"

"Great of course! I'm sorry if yesterday was a bad day, I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't- it wasn't your fault."

A bit of silence sat until Scorpia interrupted, "Hey lets go get some food." She stood up.

"think I'm good." 

"Seriously? What have you eaten today?"

"I had a granola bar this morning..."

"That's not enough! How do you think you'll ever achieve muscles like these with a granola bar?" The two of them laughed together as they made their way to the cafeteria.

"Seriously, if you don't wanna eat anything here I can buy you a bag of chips or a drink or something. Just don't sit there empty handed."

The two returned to the hallway, Scorpia with a full meal and Catra with a bag of jalapeño flavored potato chips.

"Oh shit I forgot!" She unzipped her backpack, revealing the bag she got from math class earlier.

"Wanna take this one so we're even?" She asked.

"Nah I'm good. Keep it."

Down the hallway Catra heard quick footsteps suddenly stop. She looked over to find Adora staring at her.

_Oh god. There she is._

She stood up, getting ready to run away.

“Catra! Wait!” Adora’s shout echoed through the hall.

"Scorpia I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow."

She grabbed her backpack and chips and started walking away, untimately leaving the building from a nearby exit.

_Where do I go? This place is literally a giant square!_

She walked- more like ran- down the front side of the building before turning the corner and stopping to catch her breath.

The door behind her opened and closed just seconds later. Her heavy breathing came to a halt, she hoped she could keep Adora from hearing her.

"Catra! Please come back I just wanna talk!"

_She wanted to talk this morning, too._ She didn't show this morning, so why now? Why does she still try?

"I'm sorry about this morning." Her voice was getting closer. "I didn't forget I just had other things to deal with."

Catra was too close to walk away, Adora would hear her footsteps. However, if she stayed Adora would find her. So she chose to start walking. Some footsteps heard behind her suddenly got faster before she felt a tug at her hand.

She quickly turned around. "What?! What do you want from me?"

"I- I just want to talk." 

Catra pulled her hand away before leaning against the brick wall behind her. 

"Listen I- I didn't want to leave you. Or hurt you. I just- I had my chance and I took it."

"Yeah I understand. Okay? It's just, everything is different now."

"What's different?”

Adora stood in front of her now, as Catra was trying her best not to maintain eye contact. She didn't want to give in.

"Adora it's just different. I can't explain it. Maybe it's best if we just aren't friends."

Adora stopped responding.

Catra finally looked up, seeing the upset look on her face. They stood a foot apart. She wanted so badly to just say “okay. Maybe we can try.” 

Instead she pulled Adora in for a hug, getting on her tippy toes to wrap her arms around her neck, Adora doing the same around her waist. They stayed there as the bell rang for passing period. Both of them wanted to stay there for as long as possible. 

Catra’s vision began to blur as tears filled her eyes. She knew she couldn’t stay. She wiped the tears that fell to her cheeks off with her sleeve behind Adora’s back. “I have to go.” Her grip loosened, as did Adora’s. She couldn’t even manage to look at her face. She just walked away, heading back for her next class. 

She kept repeating the conversation in her head.

_What do you want from me?_

_I just want to talk._

_Maybe it’s just best if we aren’t friends._

Maybe. Maybe she was right. _But if I am,_ she thought, _then why does it feel so wrong?_


	4. Something Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I haven’t updated this story in awhile so I’m posting this part and the next both today, enjoy :)

The shared room of Catra and Lonnie was dim, the only light shining through their window at this hour was a street lamp. It kept Catra awake some nights. 

When Adora lived with her, they had a poorly-taped poster on the end of the bed, stopping the light from reaching the bottom bunk. As soon as Lonnie moved in, she took the poster down. She didn't know of its purpose, and Catra wasn't going to tell her. 

"Can we take this down? I don't play Pokemon." 

Neither did Catra, or even Adora, but Adora would watch the show in the living room intently with the other kids. 

Catra just nodded at Lonnie. For the first few weeks she refused to speak a word to her. The first thing she ended up saying was a simple "sure" After Lonnie offered to split a candy bar with her.

It wasn't that she didn't like Lonnie, and Catra wasn't- and still isn't- exactly "shy."

She just didn't want a new friend. She knew she wouldn't replace Adora, and she didn't want anyone else.

 _I wish I had that damn poster back right now,_ Catra thought to herself as she sat up in bed.

_I wish I had Adora back right now._

As she stepped off the bed, and towards the door, she turned back to check the top bunk.

 _Still Lonnie,_ she grabbed the door handle, pulling the door open and hearing the loud creak.

she quickly turned around again, only to hear loud snoring from the bed. _Still sleeping!_

Shutting the door behind her, she walked into the bathroom and sat down on the counter. _Barely any light in here,_ she thought. _I could fall asleep in here. Easy. Lay down in the bathtub, maybe bring a blanket._

_Knock knock knock_

Three quick and quiet taps on the door made her flinch. She leaned over, opening the door to see Octavia, one of the adults at the foster home. 

"Catra, what are you doing up?" Her voice was low and calm. She was only half awake. 

"Nothing really. I just couldn't sleep." Catra whisper-spoke in response. 

"Well its," she stopped to check her phone for the time. "Past two o'clock," she turned her phone to Catra now, showing the time 2:13 A.M. at the top in big white letters. "Can you try again for me? You have school tomorrow."

Catra hopped off the counter and made her way back to her room. She thought about sleeping in the closet, seriously giving it a good thought before brushing it off. 

_I will sleep tonight,_ she pulled the covers up and over her body, _without that poster, and without Adora._  
________________________________

_beep beep beep_

Catra's eyes now opened up to see a bright room, filled with golden rays. She felt as if she hadn't slept a minute, rolling over to read her alarm clock. _7 A.M._

She stared at it as it beeped three more times in her face. Lonnie hopped out of bed and turned it off before it could continue.

Every day of school so far had felt the exact same, and part of Catra knew nothing was going to be different this year. Today was the first day of the second school week and she was already tired of it. 

She sat up, waiting for her vision to focus before dropping her head and taking a deep breath in. And by the time she looked up she was in math class, time ticking slower now than ever before. 

She tapped her pencil to her desk and shook her leg all throughout class. Glimmer noticed the fidgeting, and the lack of sarcastic remarks. In fact, this was the first class in awhile that Catra had said nothing to her.

She stared at the clock, slowing down her pencil tapping to match up with the quiet _tick_ every second. 

Micah quickly looked up from his computer monitor to see Catra walking out of class. He looked at Glimmer, who returned his same concerned look. She grabbed her bag and quietly left the class, following after her friend.

She left just in time to see Catra turning the corner all the way down the hall. That hall was filled with staff offices, Glimmer knew she wasn't headed for that hallway. She was going the long way around.

A hallway in the middle of the floor led Glimmer to the other side, where she knew she'd find her friend. As she reached the end, she heard footsteps coming her way stop, and a door slowly open.

Peeking her head around the corner, she watched as the bathroom door shut closed.

Catra walked into the bathroom and sat down in the first stall. As her backpack hit the floor and the door latched closed, her mind found rest for just a second. She closed her eyes as the bathroom door creaked. A _click_ had her eyes open again, met to a pitch black room.

"Hey!" Catra yelled.

"Catra!" Glimmer responded, turning the lights back on.

"Oh my god. What?"

"Are you alright?" Glimmer dropped her bag and sat down outside of Catra's stall.

"I'm fine, Glitter. Please leave."

Glimmer shook her head before continuing. "You know, I can deal with sad Catra. Sad Catra doesn't constantly say such stupid shit."

A snicker came from the stall, before Catra took a deep breath in and began storytelling.

"Well I uh- I had this- friend. She left me awhile ago. I hated her for it at the time but I know better now. She didn't just leave to leave me. She started a new life. A better one." 

Catra stopped before her voice began to quiver.

"Okay that doesn't sound so great, but if you understand now, what's the problem exactly?"

"Well now we both go here," Catra paused to grab a bit of fabric from her shirt and mess with it, "and she's trying to be my friend again." 

Glimmer grabbed her bag and held it to her chest, the bathroom being much colder than their classroom. "So I'm guessing you can't?"

"No. No I can't do it. And I couldn't even tell you why." Catra let go of her shirt and let out a big sigh, as if she had yet to breathe today.

"You know, it's always easy to live without change. Sometimes you get hit with it, and suddenly your life isn't easy and it's out of your control," Glimmer's mind wandered, remembering her own problems. "and sometimes you have to make the change. And somehow, that can be even harder."

On the other side of the stall door, Catra's mind was racing. Her thoughts filled with memories, and for the first time in a long time, they were good ones. She stopped responding as she thought.

"Catra?" Glimmer questioned, breaking the silence in the room. Behind her, the stall door unlatched as she sat up.

"Hey." Catra looked down at her friend with a small smile.

Glimmer stood up and immediately wrapped her arms around Catra, who had tears falling down her face in seconds.

"I don't know what to do," she said in a shaky voice, muffled by the fabric covering Glimmer's shoulder.

"Do something good."


	5. For Everything.

Adora was finally free after a long day. School, shopping with Glimmer, cooking dinner with Micah, and finishing up her homework left her only a couple hours before bed. 

She walked into her bedroom, where the walls were filled with pictures of friends, posters, all sorts of memories of almost everything she loved.

She opened her closet door to put her shoes inside, before walking towards her bed and flopping into her pillows. 

_buzz buzz_

Her phone lit up in the pocket of her red jacket. She sat up as she scrolled through her notifications, including several texts from Bow and "the princess alliance 🌈" group chat. Only one notification was unusual, and it caught her eye quickly. 

_Voicemail 6:39 P.M._

The top of her screen read _7:06 P.M._ She opened her phone app to see it was from an unrecognized number, and with a bit of curiosity, she set her phone down, grabbed a pillow, and pressed play.

A couple seconds of white noise were followed by a small "hey," that caught Adora's attention. 

It was Catra. 

"I hope this is still your number.. sorry I never really called. I guess if you don't even listen to this," she paused, "well, I really hope you do."

Adora sat with her legs crossed, clenching a soft pillow in her arms, staring down at her phone as she listened.

"I- I'm sorry Adora. For everything." her pauses filled with sniffles as her voice turned into a whisper. "I hope we'll see each other again someday." Adora's eyes widened as her heart started pounding faster. "Goodbye."

She watched as the message stopped playing. Tears began to run down her face as she sat in shock.

_What did you do?_

She grabbed her shoes and carefully walked into Glimmer's room next door, closing the door quietly behind her. "Glimmer," she whispered, "I need you to distract Micah." 

Glimmer, who was sat at her desk, looked up to see a pale Adora with eyes full of tears. "God Adora! Are you alright?" She walked up to her and gave her a tight hug.

Adora tried her best to hug back, but she felt nauseous and weak. "No," she began as the embrace ended and her eyes met with Glimmer's. "I need to help someone, I need to take your dad's car, and I need you to distract him while I do it. Okay?"

Under normal circumstances, Glimmer would've thought she was going insane. 

"To do this for you, I need some sort of explanation."

"And I can give that to you! I _will_ give that to you. Just not right now. Now it's urgent and I need you to trust me."

Glimmer sighed as she walked away from Adora and opened her door. "You give me one minute before you go down there." Glimmer whispered.

Adora nodded as the door closed and footsteps trailed downstairs. 

The second she was alone it hit her all over again.

_She's okay. She's okay. She's okay._

Without the constant reminder, she'd continue to think the worst. Her breathing grew heavy and she couldn't sit still. She spent her minute pacing around the room, trying to calm herself down. 

Adora opened and closed the door as slowly as she could. Once she was on the steps, the chatter from the kitchen was audible. She made her way downstairs carefully, watching for the third step down, which creaked. 

She arrived at the front door before even thinking about keys. They were easy to find, just feet away from her on the small table next to the couch, but they were loud. Metal keychains clanked against keys with every movement. 

_Shit._

In the kitchen, Glimmer's phone buzzed. She stopped washing dishes and chatting to read.

_I need to grab the keys. Make a noise._

She put her phone away, grabbed a glass and started washing, before turning to Micah.

"Hey dad, remember that mov-" 

_crash!_

The cup slipped perfectly out of her hand and broke into pieces as Adora carefully pulled the keys into her hand.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"It's okay! It's okay! Just stay there while I clean this up so you don't get hurt."

Adora turned the doorknob and left the house for the Acura sitting in the driveway. 

_I got this._ She controlled her breathing. _I got this._

She left the neighborhood on her own for the very first time, as a student driver. She knew the general direction, but used gps to find her way to her old foster home. 

_Where would she go?_ The thought rang through her head, until she had an idea. 

Sitting at his home was Bow, who had no idea of what was going on. Suddenly his phone rang, and he picked up a call from Adora.

"Hello?"

"Bow. I need you to search up this bus across town and find out where it's most recent stop was headed."

"Okay... why?"

"Just trust me, and please do it. It's the bus stop closest to my old foster home."

"Okay." 

Adora could hear Bow typing away at his computer in the background. "It looks like it was headed into the city of Thaymor. Those people love to party." 

"Can you send me the location it got off at?"

"Yeah of course."

"Thank you Bow, I owe you one." Adora grabbed her phone and hung up. Neither Bow nor Glimmer knew what was happening right now, but they both trusted Adora enough to help her on her secret mission. 

The city was a half an hour away, and Adora's mind didn't wander from the task at hand for a second of it. She even tried to call Catra back multiple times throughout the ride, but it only went straight to voicemail. 

She parked at a 2 hour zone in the city and paid in change before finding the bus stop. 

_Okay, okay Catra got off here. Where would she go next?_ Adora turned a full circle to see her surroundings, tall buildings, some shops, and across the road, a small, colorful cafe. 

_Catra would stop for a drink._

She waited for a couple passing cars before walking the crosswalk. Thaymor Cafe wasn't like the cafes Adora might find herself studying at on a weekend. It was bright and loud, you could hear the pop music playing from outside, but the second you opened the door it was 10 times louder. 

Adora quickly scanned the room, making sure Catra was nowhere in sight. She walked up to the boy working at the counter, a teenager with blue streaks in his hair and a matching blue shirt under his apron.

"Hi! Welcome to Thaymor Cafe how can we help you today?" He asked with a smile.

"Hi, I'm looking for a girl, about my age, messy brown hair, two different colored eyes."

"Yeah we had a customer like that recently, ordered a hot chocolate and then left. She went down this street, past the shop." He pointed to his left, at the sidewalk outside the window. "Is she okay? She seemed a little quiet."

Adora sighed, "I hope she is, thank you."

The night was setting in outside, the sky filled with stars and a chilly breeze swept through the city. Adora felt this breeze as she followed down the street Catra had walked earlier. 

She passed two street corners where nothing caught her eye, so she continued to walk down the sidewalk in front of her.

_Did she know where she was headed?_

She pulled out her phone and searched for bus stops around her. One popped up just a few minutes away, it's next ride leaving at 8:05 P.M. Adora's eyes dashed to the top of her screen to see _7:59 P.M._

She started jogging down the street, feeling the cool air run past her face. _If she's not there,_ she thought, _where else would she go? Where was she trying to go?_

With her phone in-hand, she continued to check the time and follow the directions on her map every chance she got. Time seemed to speed up when she needed it most. 

She turned the corner to the street with the stop, stopping to catch her breath as a bus came her way, and one person got ready to board.

"catra?" she whispered. 

She ran as the clock hit 8:05, the bus door opened, and the passenger boarded.

"Catra!" She yelled. The bus doors closed as the hooded girl inside turned around.

Her messy hair came out of the sides of her hoodie, and the cocoa in her hand spilled onto her fingers from the turn.

Adora found her, alive, and okay, and still leaving. She dropped to her knees, sitting on the cold concrete as she caught her breath. 

She looked down at her phone to check where the bus would go next. _Maybe I can still stop her somehow._ Behind her phone, she could see the bus come to a full stop down the street. 

One passenger got off and stepped onto the sidewalk. Adora turned her phone off and dropped it onto her lap. 

"Adora?" Catra yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!"


	6. A Promise

The car keys jangled in Adora's hand as she turned them and pulled, turning the car off along with the headlights that lit up the driveway.

The ride home was long and silent. Catra sat in the passenger seat next to her without saying a word almost the whole way. 

Adora sat still for a second, letting out a deep breath and dropping the keys in her lap. She hadn't had a second to sit still since she heard the voicemail. 

_Everything is okay,_ She told herself. The anxiety she still felt was telling her otherwise.

"Oh I should-" she whispered to herself before grabbing at her pockets and worriedly looking around for her phone.

"Adora?" Catra pulled a phone out of her pocket. Adora grabbed it without responding. 

Catra only grabbed it in the first place because  
Adora set it in a cup holder, and every time there was a bump in the road, the sound of the phone hitting the inside made her uneasy.

Adora unlocked her phone with her thumbprint and called Glimmer.

"Hey, am I safe to come in?"

"Yeah," Catra quickly looked up as she heard the voice from Adora's phone. So much was happening at the moment that she quickly passed the thought, but she was almost sure she knew that voice.

"He asked why you never came out of your room and I told him you probably fell asleep early, but if this happens again he's gonna start getting suspicious."

"It won't happen again. Thank you."

"Just be quiet on the way in."

Adora hung up and turned off her phone.

"Okay, just follow my lead." Adora turned to look at Catra and watched as her silhouette gave back a slight nod in response. She opened and closed the car door quietly, Catra doing the same and grabbing her backpack, before stopping to look at the house in front of her. 

Adora walked ahead of Catra, opening the front door and gently setting the car keys down on the small table where she first found them. She felt a warmth that she was so used to. The warmth of her home.

Catra noticed it as she walked in. The house was instantly warmer than the outside, like you were greeted with a heated blanket wrapped around your body and a hot drink in your hand.

Adora walked back behind Catra to close and lock the front door. 

"Okay, follow me upstairs." She whispered, grabbing Catra's hand and leading her the right way. 

In the pitch black, it made sense that Adora would have to help her around. Catra had never been there before, and her first time she could barely see what she was doing, but still, she was happy to be here, holding Adora's hand, in Adora's new home, rather than anywhere else.

Adora let go as she started walking upstairs, eventually waiting for Catra at the top. She never thought about it until now, how comfortable she had been there. As she waited for Catra to get up the steps, which she was able to do without thinking.

_I know this house. I know these steps- the third step down creaks._ She looked down to see a shadow figure getting closer to her. _Oh shit. The third one down creaks!_

She reached for Catra, grabbed her arm and pulled her up, making her skip a couple steps ahead. 

"Adora!" Catra attempted to whisper-shout.

"Sorry! The third step down creaks!" She let go of Catra's arm, causing her to lose her balance and almost fall backwards. She reached her hand out and caught Adora's just before she could fall.

"God, remind me to never do anything like this with you again! I forgot how stupid everything with you can be." She carefully stepped up the last two steps and let go of her helping hand.

"Just get in my room!” Adora pointed to one of three upstairs doors and Catra carefully opened the door, took off her shoes and dropped off her backpack, and slowly sat down on the big bed in front of her, criss-crossing her legs and leaning back against several pillows. A fluffy white blanket engulfed her lower half.

It was finally calm, and neither of them had any distractions from each other. Adora wasn't driving, and she was actually exhausted after such a long and stressful drive. Catra couldn't look out the window anymore, watching every building they passed. 

She didn't know what to say, or whether she should say anything at all. She looked up to see Adora, still standing at the door, her hand slowly letting go of the doorknob. 

As she turned to Catra- who could now see that she was crying- she didn't make eye contact. She pulled the hair tie from her hair, sliding it down her hand to sit like a bracelet on her wrist. 

Catra's face changed from a slightly frightened look to a more worried one. She couldn't stop looking at Adora, because usually, by now, she would've dropped her head and focused on a wrinkle in the blanket, but right now wasn't usual, and she couldn't focus on anything else.

Adora brought her left hand up to her face, first covering her eyes, then her mouth, and finally she started talking.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" The words were muffled by her hand.

Catra's heart started pounding. Everything that happened this night was real, and somehow they had only just made it to the hardest part.

"I wasn't."

"Yeah. Yeah that's pretty clear isn't it?" Adora finally met Catra's eyes, hers filled with tears. She seemed more frustrated than anything at this point. 

Catra got off the bed to hug her. It had been awhile since anyone actually cared for her, as everyone at the foster home treated her like another task at their daily job. 

"I'm sorry."

"I was so worried."

Catra could feel Adora's hyperventilating breath against her chest before Adora let go and sat down on the bed, crossing her legs and covering her face with both hands. 

"You act like you get to do stupid shit because nobody cares about you," Catra's weight slowly pushed Adora's left side down while she paused, "but you would have people that care about you if you'd just let us." 

Catra's hand met her shoulder, turning Adora towards her. "I know. It's just- harder that way.." Adora moved her hand from her face to the space between her and Catra to make eye contact. 

"But you've made it pretty clear tonight that I can't stop you, dummy. Coming all the way to the city alone just to stop me was really stupid." They both giggled.

"It was totally worth it. I'd do it again right now if I had to- not that you should ever make me again."

"I promise I won't." Catra smiled.

Adora's returned smile quickly faded. 

"You know, you're gonna be in so much trouble at the home." 

The hand on her shoulder moved next to hers, resting on the bed. "Yeah. I've thought about it. At least they can't get the police involved until 48 hours! And I'll be home tomorrow, after school I guess."

Neither of them bothered to look at each other when Catra moved her hand to rest on top of Adora's, until she herself flipped her hand over to hold Catra's.

She caught Catra, wide-eyed, staring down at their hands, and tried to give her a small smile before she looked away.

As she sat, her eyes explored the walls, looking around at every picture and poster, and suddenly her attention was drawn to the door as it slowly opened.

"Ador- Catra?"

"Sparkles?" Catra slowly pulled her hand away to sit in her pocket.

Adora looked back and forth between the two as her face filled with a look of confusion. 

"You guys know each other?"


	7. The Picture Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! so i tried to change up my writing style a bit with this one to make it less boring, at least in my opinion. It shouldn’t be anything too different- and I’m not some amazing super talented writer or anything, I’m just trying to write this for fun and all. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this chapter- also I edited catradora pretty recently on my instagram @euphorics.aep if you guys wanna check that out :)

A soft breath brushed against Catra's face as she woke up to a warmth she wasn't used to; curled up next to Adora, whose arm draped over her back along with the blanket they shared. 

Her gaze shifted up to see Adora sleeping comfortably. She looked so peaceful now, unlike the hyper person she was known as when awake. Her hair down, blanketing the pillow she laid on, and her mouth slightly open, releasing a calm breath every couple of seconds.

Catra placed her head back down gently, getting comfortable again, allowing herself to fall back asleep, when the door to Adora's room swung open. 

"Adora?" Micah asked in a concerned tone.

Both girls looked at the door before Adora sat up, moving her arm off of Catra.

"What?" She asked sleepily.

"Catra?" He asked, as she slowly sat up too, giving him a small wave. "We'll talk about this later, you're- well I guess you're both gonna be late- all of us are if you don't get up!"

Adora found her phone under the blanket and both girls read the screen. 7:17 A.M. 

"Sorry! I forgot to set my alarm last night! Be ready in a few!" Adora jumped out of bed and quickly grabbed clothes from her closet.

"I know you're- well- short, and tiny, so hopefully these fit?" She tossed a pair of grey sweatpants on the bed along with a cropped black t-shirt. 

"Seriously? Sweatpants? Your style is so... _graceful_." Catra teased, grabbing the clothes and placing them in her lap. 

"They're the only pants I have that you can tighten at the waist, if you want jeans or something check the closet!" Adora closed the door behind her as she made her way to the bathroom.

Catra pulled the fluffy white blanket off of her and began changing in the unfamiliar room, surrounded by pictures of people she'd never met. 

Seahawk, Bow, Mermista.. the only people she'd recognize were Adora and Glimmer. That was, until she walked towards the closet, noticing a picture on the wall next to the closet door that she somehow hadn't before; recognizing herself.

She pulled the t-shirt on, along with a flannel of her own, and walked back towards the closet to get a closer look. _I look so unhappy,_ she softly touched the photo before taking it off the wall. Adora smiled wide, the same smile she always had, but something wasn't quite right. Catra barely smiled at all, and her eyes looked at Adora rather than the camera in front of them. 

She flipped the picture over, checking for a date or any kind of writing- to no avail. Carefully, she pinned it back in the mix of photos on the wall and grabbed her backpack, which was filled with a mix of runaway items and school supplies.

Two loud knocks at the door made Catra jump.

"Is it safe?" Adora asked from behind the door. Catra raised an eyebrow, "Exactly how long do you think I take to get changed?"

The door swung open and Adora raced to grab her own bag, ready to leave, but was stopped when she saw Catra sitting with hers.

"I guess you're lucky you brought a toothbrush cause you can brush your teeth before school." 

Catra didn't respond. She was too busy looking at everything else she managed to take the night before. Her stolen getaway money, collected from the wallets of her caretakers over the years. An extra shirt, rolled up at the bottom of the bag, next to her phone charger. 

"As for all the stuff you took yesterday that you don't need right now, if you want you can leave it here. Plus that way I know you're gonna have to come back." Adora smiled.

Catra couldn't help but do the same. "Fine, _A-dorka_. But if I catch you wearing my clothes I'll kill you." She handed her the shirt. "What? Why would I _ever_ do such a thing." Adora giggled as she hung it up in her closet.

"Okay go brush your teeth we gotta go!" 

After the rushed morning of everyone in the Williams' house, the four piled themselves into Micah's car and buckled up for a high speed mission. The girls spent the ride there laughing and chatting about nothing in the backseat.

Upon their arrival, Micah looked down at the time on the radio before turning the keys out of the car and opening his door. "Okay, Adora get to your class." She nodded before opening her door, waving a quick goodbye to Catra and running off. 

"As for you two," he angled the rear view mirror to perfectly see Catra and Glimmer, "race you to class!" 

He ran, closing his door and quicly pressing the lock on the keys. 

"We are not letting that cheater win!" Glimmer cheered. "Come on!" She moved from the middle seat to Adora's door, quickly unlocking it while Catra did the same on her side and started walking.

"We don't have time to walk you'll be late!" Glimmer grabbed her arm and pulled her along as she started running, but Catra pulled away. "I'm already in the most trouble I could possibly be in. It doesn't matter."

Glimmer stopped and quickly turned around. "Oh it doesn't matter huh? So you're just gonna let an old man beat you in a race? Is that it?" Glimmer's tone was the most serious Catra had ever heard. She got up in her face, "That's it, huh?"

Catra couldn't help but laugh, "okay okay! I'm coming!" They ran down the hallways and made it to class just as the bell rang. 

"Sorry about that everyone! Hope you didn't miss me too much." Micah started at his half-asleep class. "Okay well! Short quiz today on what we went over last week to make sure everyone understood, because we're gonna continue to build off of that." 

The class was quick and easy. Catra sped through the math and had time to pass notes of tiny sketches with Glimmer and try to hide their giggling. When the bell rang, Catra was in no rush to leave class. She took her time to grab her things before leaving and did it with a small smile that wouldn't leave her face.

"Catra, it looks like your schedule was changed, did you know about this?" 

"Uh yeah, I signed up for student tutoring and asked to take a higher biology class."

"Well it looks like you got both! Well done! Also you switched from second to first lunch. Here's the new schedule if you need a picture." Micah turned his computer screen to her and went to wipe quiz answers off the whiteboard before the next class. 

"First period lunch means you can eat with Adora, Bow and I." Glimmer smiled from her desk as she tossed items in her backpack.

Catra glanced at Glimmer before she smiled to herself too. "Thank you Micah, see you guys later." Catra waved as she left the room and headed to her new biology upstairs. Which- was mainly boring- but bio med was _slightly_ more challenging for her, making it _slightly_ less boring than normal bio. 

Catra checked her phone in the last minute of class, _okay next is... English_. As the bell rang, she walked up to the teacher, Ms. Keele. "Do you know where my English class would be?"

"Most English is downstairs, you got Mr. Carlton? Roberts?"

"My schedule just switched from Carlton to Roberts." 

"His class is right next to the cafeteria, not nearest the stairs close to us, but near the ones that way." She pointed without looking up from her computer, somewhat in the direction of another set of stairs leading to the cafeteria.

"Okay- thanks!"

She walked off to her new English class, to find her teacher at the bottom of a long trail of steps, each with a row of chairs meeting them, almost like an auditorium. 

"Oh hi!" The teacher's voice called from the bottom of the steps. "My name is Mr. Roberts but most call me Lance. What's your name?" 

He was basically shouting at her, but she didn't care to get closer. "Catra! My schedule changed!"

"Welcome! Sit in one of these 5 closest rows here!"

She stepped down to the 5th row and started walking to a seat furthest away from people.

"Hey!" She stopped and turned around to a new voice. "I'm Bow, you're new to this class?" 

Catra nodded, recognizing Bow from several photos scattered across Adora's wall.

He motioned to the chair next to him with a welcoming grin on his face.

"Okay, get out your notebooks! Note taking today!" Mr. Roberts' voice filled the large room.

Catra sat down, flipping to the first empty page she could find in her notebook, and started taking notes. As she watched their teacher speak, she looked back at Bow, noticing the similarities between the two.

"Dude," Catra whispered, "is that your dad?"

Bow smiled, "yeah, why?"

"Well first Glimmer, now you. Does everyone and their dad just love it here?"

"You know Glimmer?"

Catra nodded. "My name is Catra by the way."

______________________________________

The whole class suddenly jumped from their seats as the bell rang for first lunch.

Her paper, now covered with several doodles filling the small spaces between notes, fell under a stack of other pages as the notebook was closed and shoved into Catra's backpack. 

"First lunch?" Bow asked, walking a couple steps ahead.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet up with-"

"Catra! Bow!" Glimmer yelled, waiting from outside the classroom.

"Her. And Adora." Bow and Catra trailed the steps leading up to their friend.

"Hi Glimmer! Good to see you!" 

"Hi Mr. Roberts! Good to see you too!" 

Catra tapped Bow's shoulder lightly to get his attention back from the yelling of his friend and father. "Where's Adora?" 

"She should be at our table already, you'll find her if you head in there."

"Thanks." She walked down the hall a bit, Glimmer's yelling getting quieter as the halls grew crowded with people. Arriving at the cafeteria, she stopped on the last step down to scan the room for Adora, who sat just a couple tables ahead.

Adora, waving from the table, was now able to see Catra wearing her clothes, without having to rush out of the house or run to class. Her eyes widened, watching her walk over in the same sweatpants and t shirt combo she had worn a thousand times before. As Catra got closer she looked down at her plate of food and sat her chin on her hand, hoping to cover up her rosy cheeks.

"Why'd you stare at me you weirdo?" Catra joked, taking the seat across from her.

"I didn't- shut up!" Adora replied defensively.

Bow and Glimmer showed up with plates full of food just minutes later, making Catra the odd one out, the only person yet to get any. Glimmer sat down beside Catra, "You haven't gotten anything?" 

"No, I don't really trust that anything here is good." 

"I just get a sub and fries everyday. As long as you have first lunch, its all still hot." Adora moved her tray to sit at an equal distance between herself and Catra, offering to share. 

Catra started picking up fries, examining them, and eating them one by one. Adora- still covering her face- zoned out as she stared at the table, letting the conversation between Bow and Glimmer echo around her.

Catra curiously watched her, setting her elbows on the table and leaning forward until she was in Adora's line of view. "What's going on behind that big forehead of yours?"

Adora giggled, pushing Catra away. "Catra since when do you have first lunch?" She changed the subject and resumed eating.

"Since today. I got my schedule changed." She pulled the phone out of her pocket, pulling up the picture of her new schedule before setting the screen in the middle of the table. Bow, Adora, and Glimmer all leaned in to read the screen before Bow picked it up.

"Hey!" Glimmer shouted. 

"Calm down! Okay, math with Glimmer, English with me... lunch with all of us- obviously- and.." Adora, attempting to reach past Bow and see for herself, wanted so badly to hear her own name. "team sports with Adora."

"Wait seriously?" Adora grabbed the phone and read through the pixelated picture of Micah's computer screen.

"Yeah I guess so. You excited to have a class with me, dork?" Catra reached out, taking her phone from Adora's hand. "What? _Noo.._ " She slumped back into her seat, making a pillow on the table out of her arms and resting her head on them.

Catra bit off half a french fry before bouncing the other half off Adora's head. _"Hey!"_ Glimmer and Bow laughed on the sidelines. "You're a terrible liar. You are _so_ sentimental it's gross."

"Sentimental?" Bow asked through his giggles.

"Yeah, Adora and I grew up together in a foster home." Catra smiled, still watching Adora wipe french fry residue off her face.

"You never told us about Catra before?" Bow questioned. Adora dropped the napkin to see her friends looking at her with curiosity, while Catra's face dropped. "You never talked about me?"

"Well I kept you nameless." Adora responded sheepishly.

After both of them fell silent, Bow responded with a small "sorry." Before Glimmer nodded towards the stairs, asking Bow to walk with her.

They awkwardly waited for their friends to be far away enough that they couldn't hear before Adora sat up, pulling her arms into her lap and fidgeting with her hands. "It wasn't that I didn't talk about you. Or that I didn't want to talk about you. Nothing like that, at all."

"Then why? Why not just talk about me? Me, Catra, with my _name_ and every little thing you could remember about me from our years of friendship?"

"Because it hurt too much. I didn't wanna explain my amazing, and independent, excessively sarcastic best friend when I knew that she hated me and that I was never gonna see her again."

The cafeteria, filled with noise and people, was unable to distract either of them from each other. Catra blankly stared into Adora's eyes after her last sentence. "You thought we were never gonna see each other again?"

Adora sighed. "I don't know. I mean- I was never sure. I guess that's what I was scared of- that we wouldn't."

For Catra, it was the exact opposite. That fear that they _would_ see each other again. Run into each other on the street, apply for the same job, _go to the same school_. At some point, she could've sworn her biggest fear was to grow attached again. And here, sat in front of her, was her childhood best friend. The same smile, same ponytail, and same baby blue eyes, that she grew attached to in the first place. 

"Adora, I wanted to ask you about the picture you have of us. On your wall."

Adora's eyes shifted back from a random spot on the table to look at Catra. She immediately knew the picture, as if it was engraved in her mind and every time she closed her eyes she could see it clearer. 

"The one by the closet-"

"Yeah I know the one." Adora stopped to gather her thoughts, almost like she had tripped and spilled them all over the floor.

"It was taken the day I left."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Kora" - (my girlfriend told me to just put her name in here cause shes a dummyhead. here, loser)


	8. The Picture Pt. 2

Everything Adora owned had been stripped from the room. Pictures, posters, personal items, all gone. Catra sat on the top bunk, looking out over the empty room. The only memory left- that wasn't tucked away for safekeeping- was carved into the closet doorframe.

"Yeah- I'll be right back!" Adora's voice grew louder as the steps up to the bedrooms creaked. Slowly, she opened the door and closed it behind her. Catra wasn't talking to her much at all, ever since she'd learned Adora was going to leave.

"Hey so, I got Octavia's phone. To take a picture of us- so I can have one at my new house. She'd send it to Mr. Williams and- you know."

Catra nodded slowly before stepping down the small ladder from the top bunk to the floor- all without looking at Adora once. Now they stood feet apart from each other, in the bedroom they shared for years, and were somehow more awkward than a pair of strangers.

"Catra," Adora grabbed her arm and sat down on the bottom bunk, pulling her down to do the same. "We can still be friends, you know? I'm gonna get a phone, and I'll text Octavia and she can give you my number. I'm sure you can text me when she's working and- and eventually get your own phone and we can text all the time!"

Catra looked up from her lap, across the room at the bag of items Adora would soon grab and run away with. "Okay." Her voice sounded perfectly emotionless- she wished she could feel the same way.

"Okay." Adora stood up and opened the camera app. "Can we take a picture?"

She raised her arm as Catra got up to stand next to her. With both faces in frame- she smiled a toothy grin at the camera before clicking the button at the bottom of the screen.

Her arm dropped, the phone shutting off in her hand before she shoved it in her pocket. She turned towards Catra to grab the bag behind her but stopped when she saw Catra holding her arms out, weakly, waiting for Adora to fall into them. So they hugged- the same way they always had- only this time for much longer. 

"It's okay." Adora's voice became shaky. 

"We'll see each other again soon."


	9. She Cares Too, You Know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **cheesy ending alert wee woo wee woo**

Adora sat in her English class, bouncing her leg on the floor, and tapping a pencil off of her leg. She couldn't focus- and sat through the entire class without writing a thing.

She blankly stared at her paper, hearing nothing past the sound of the pencil tapping, until the bell rang- bringing her back to consciousness.

"Adora," Lance called for her as she turned to leave the room. She slowly turned around, holding the same blank expression she had the whole class. He motioned towards himself, and she followed the motion down the steps to meet her teacher.

"Are you feeling alright?"

She almost flinched at the question. "I'm okay," she released. "I have to get to class." 

"You know you can come here if you need anything, or go to Micah, or even find Bow, o- or Glimmer," he reached out, placing a hand on Adora's shoulder. "I know you know this, but I'm gonna remind you again. Okay?"

Adora nodded. "Okay." She picked up her arms, taking a hug from one of her many adopted father-figures, before leaving the classroom. 

She had team sports with Catra, for the first time, and she could barely think without being overwhelmed. 

_What a way to say "be my friend again!"_

She reached the next building, then the locker room. There was one long hallway to get in, another to get to her locker. She felt completely alone- and with each step her heart beat faster. Her breathing switched to manual, and felt heavy, and almost impossible.

By the time she made it to the second hallway, her vision was blurred and she could've sworn this is what it felt like to die. 

A few more steps left Adora in front of her locker, where she took a sharp breath in and began to cry, falling back on the bench behind her. Her fast heartbeat became painful. 

The bell for last period rang, and she barely heard it past the empty ringing that filled her head. The only thought she could manage to focus on kept repeating, _I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna do this._

So when Catra opened the door, and slowly and silently trailed down the hallways, she wouldn't hear.

"Adora?" she turned the corner, finding her classmate crying, shaking, practically holding herself in the locker room.

Catra dropped her bag and came to crouch in front of Adora. "Hey it's alright, I'm here." She carefully unwrapped her arms, holding her hands and guiding her to sit on the floor, before hugging Adora herself. 

Her hyperventilating breaths were now muffled into Catra's shoulder, her arms pulling her tighter into the hug every time another sharp inhale hit.

"I'm here."

Adora would try to say something- anything really. She couldn't get a full word out before another sharp inhale. She'd try, and try, just to speak, and the more she'd try, the more she'd fail, making herself more and more frustrated. She knew what she wanted to say.

_I'm sorry._

__

_I can't stop._

__

_I don't know what's happening._

When her breathing would calm down, she'd apologize between breaths, as much as she could. "It's alright," Catra would tell her. "It's not your fault." 

______________________________________

The fog in Adora's mind didn't last forever. When she was able to think- to see past the fog- she allowed herself to calm down; releasing the handfuls of fabric from Catra's flannel that she collected.

Catra slowly separated from the hug, seeing Adora's face as new tears ran down her cheeks. She pulled the sleeve of her shirt over her hand and gently wiped them away. "Do you think you can talk now?"

Adora took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Yeah. I started getting pretty bad anxiety awhile ago." her words trailed off until she was silent again, listening to the sound of her own heartbeat. 

"Was there any specific reason?"

Adora looked up to see Catra's concerned face, giving her the slightest smile. "You don't need to worry about me. Glimmer, Bow, everyone that cares knows this just happens sometimes." Adora weakly picked herself up to sit back on the bench.

Catra sat back, leaning against the cold metal lockers behind her. "I care too you know. Lonnie used to get them too- anxiety attacks. Just like that." she stared at her hands, pulling at the fabric of her sleeves. "Have you ever tried to do anything to make them easier to deal with? Or stop them before they start?"

"No, I mean- I guess not. I haven't really thought about it much."

"Well what do you usually do when you're upset?" Catra looked curiously at Adora.

"Man I don't know. Sometimes I watch youtube," she laughed, "or just listen to good music." 

"Well," Catra stood up, "why don't you try one of those next time?" She lowered her hand in front of Adora, who looked up with a smile before grabbing it, finally walking to class.

"You know, I think you could just be wanting any excuse to get me to hug you at this point." Catra joked as she reached down to grab her backpack with her free hand.

"Oh really? Aren't you the one who wants to hold my hand?" She picked up her hand, and in turn picked up Catra's. "No, you dummy!" Catra pulled away before shoving herself into Adora's side, running off with her backpack. 

"Come back here!" Adora followed down the hall. "This isn't over, Catra!"

"I think it is!" She responded before leaving the locker room. 

Adora, leaving soon after, couldn't find wherever she'd ran off to. She could've left- skipped class after the long absence the two took. Or she could've gone back. Adora looked towards the door of the gym, noticing it was propped open. She could take a peek inside without everyone hearing her enter. 

So she slowly walked over, popping her head inside the room, and there she was. About 20 feet away, Catra stood with their gym teacher. Adora walked down the steps, meeting Catra just in time for the teacher to give her a smile and walk off. 

"What was that about?"

"Making sure you didn't get in trouble, dummy."

"Did you tell her? About the anxiety attack?"

"No, I told her you got your period and were having complications. Actually if you wanna sit down and not do anything, that's highly excusable-"

"Catra! That's so much worse!" Adora laughed. 

"What? You're telling me you wanna toss a ball around? Play with a frisbee or something?"

"Are you telling me you can't catch one?" She smirked.

Catra dropped her bag by the stairs before turning back to Adora, "oh, you're on." 

She ran ahead to grab a frisbee, which they spent the rest of the class competing over. What was important- to Adora at least- was that she was okay. She wasn't sure if she would've been, at least not yet, without Catra's help. So maybe, just maybe, having this class together, and going to the same school, would be alright.


	10. It All Started on Wednesday

"Lonnieeeeeeeeee," Catra flopped into the lower bunk, "how did I let this happen?" She groaned, muffled by her pillows.

"Okay, explain what happened again?"

Catra sighed into her pillow. "Okay." She sat up, quickly climbed up the ladder to the top bunk and turned to her roommate. _"Like I said, it all started on Wednesday."_

"Hey Catra," Glimmer turned in her seat.

_Right as the bell rang for second period, Glimmer brought up an idea._

"Adora, Bow and I were thinking about going skating this weekend and it'd be totally cool if you came."

"Sparkles," Catra glanced at Glimmer's wide-eyed excited face as she closed her notebook. "You know I can't go out right now, and I got my phone taken away for everything that happened earlier this week."

"Okay I know- but you were able to sneak away then! What's changed between then and now?"

"Well, _now,_ if I get caught, I will quite literally never be able to do anything ever again."

_I was about to leave the class, I swear, I stood up and walked off, but then she had to bring up-_

"Adora would really want you to come. Just consider it?"

_So what'd you do?_

_Nothing. Not yet. I went to class as normal, thought about roller skating a little too much for my liking, and continued with my day. In English, Bow brought it up again._

"Catra." Bow whispered as he nudged her arm, bringing her attention to a small note written on his notebook.

**come skating with adora glimmer and i this weekend :)**

_I swear to god his face read just like the smiley face he wrote down. So I pushed my notebook right next to his and responded._

**I cant man. Grounded for running away, remember?**

**can't you sneak out or something? it'd be so fun :(**

**sorry!**

**im gonna cut all your shirts into crop tops. then we'll see who's sorry**

_I laughed- and got us in trouble by Mr. Roberts. Anyways, it got a little weird when lunch came around. We all sat with our food, and neither of them would bring up the idea again._

"So what? Sudden change of heart?" Catra asked, moving her plate towards Adora to make room for her arms to sit on the table.

"What's up?" Adora started at leftover fries.

"I thought-"

"Nothing!" Glimmer interrupted, a grave expression falling over her face. "Catra you need to pee right?"

"I- no?" Her face filled with more confusion each passing second.

"Yes you do! Let's go!"

_So we rushed to the bathroom, she even waited for the door to close behind us, before she started talking._

"Okay," Glimmer turned from the door, stopping to stand next to Catra by the sinks. "we actually wanted to surprise Adora with a skating night. She has no idea."

Catra sighed, pushing herself up to sit on the counter behind her. "Listen, I'd love to come, of course I would, but there's no way I can right now."

"I know. That's okay. Just don't let her find out we were planning this so she won't be disappointed."

Catra paused, looking up from her lap to give a slight smile and nod. 

_As we walked back to the table, I thought everything would be fine, and this- this is when Bow ruined it!_

"Catra!" Adora shouted from her seat.

Glimmer and Catra stopped in the hallway, looking at each other questioningly, before making their way to the table.

"You're going skating with us this weekend?! Oh my god I'm so excited!"

 _"Bow!"_ Glimmer and Catra shouted in unison. 

"I told both of you I can't go. Why would you tell Adora we're going?" 

"I didn't! I literally said we were planning on going skating with you and she yelled immediately!"

Catra sunk into her seat, dropping her arms on the table to lay her head down. "I can't go Adora, I'm sorry." 

Everyone paused, glancing at one another. 

"That's okay," Adora reached out, placing a hand on Catra's arm. "we can go some other time. I know you're in trouble right now and all."

_So that's it? They understood then?_

_No- no that's not it. You see, Adora and I have last period together, most of which we spent playing badminton, until we were sent to lockers in the last ten minutes._

"Who knew badminton could make you so sweaty?" Adora laughed, throwing a stinky shirt in her locker.

"It's literally just you- I'm completely fine."

 _”You_ spent half the class sitting down!"

"Yeah and I get to go home and sit down some more. Hurray for me!" Catra tossed a pair of leggings in her locker before falling back on the bench behind her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Adora closed her locker, then Catra's, turning back against it- letting herself slide down to the floor. "I wish you could come skating with us this weekend. I promise to take you some other time."

"Why do you want me to go so bad?" Catra lifted off the bench, copying Adora's pose on the ground next to her.

"I don't know," Adora turned to face her, "I guess you're part of the group now. We all want you to hang out with us." Her words trailed off- as they often did when she found herself in the middle of a lie- or more often, a half-truth.

Catra paused before turning to look back at Adora. "That's it?"

Adora's eyebrows furrowed, and mouth opened slightly- as if she was about to continue- when the bell rang. 

_"are you fucking kidding me."_ Catra mumbled as she got up. "I'm sorry, I can't be late for the bus." 

Adora followed her outside- until she stopped walking- pulling Adora out of the way of traffic. 

"Look I know I probably can't go- but maybe I'll see what I can do, alright?"

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, but for now I _really_ gotta go." She laughed.

"Okay. Thank you." Adora smiled, a sweet genuine smile, and missed the one Catra had in return as she ran off to catch her bus.

_And now, we're here._

"Okay," Lonnie started. "Any updates? You know what time or day this should be happening?

"On Saturday- well tomorrow. Adora told me on Thursday they were planning for Saturday, it goes by 2 hour sessions so 8-10 I think." 

"Okay, I still have my phone. If we figure out a way to get you out of here, we have means of communication as long as you know Adora's number."

"Are you kidding me? By heart. Next."

"Well, sadly Ms. Weaver is working on Saturday, making this a hell of a lot harder."

Catra fell back on the bed, grabbing Lonnie's pillow to throw it at her face.

_"Hey!"_

"Sorry! I just don't know what to do, okay?" She sat up, pushed herself into the corner, placing the pillow in her lap with her knees up- almost hiding behind it.

"Look I'm gonna help you. Only because you've been..." she motioned in circles with her hands, trying to think of the right word. "more tolerable? Happier. You've been happier this week which made you more tolerable."

Lonnie grabbed her phone from her pocket, handing it to her roommate, who just stared back in response.

"Well if you know her number by heart, text her! Ask for 10-12 instead. We can sneak you out then. Easy."

Catra reached for the phone, opened it to the messages app, and felt a wave of anxiety before she could even start typing. 

"Are you sure we can make this work?"

"Yeah. We got this." 

Catra sat up, putting all of her attention on the screen in front of her. She spent a minute- maybe two- typing out a message. "Okay." One more tap sent the message to Adora. "It's sent." 

Lonnie climbed down to the floor and started pacing around the room. "So. Here's how we're gonna do this."


End file.
